It has been common practice to employ asphalt paving machines or like apparatus for the purpose of laying asphalt paving material for forming hard surface roads. Typically, these asphalt paving machines are self-propelled and include an operator station for permitting an on-board operator to ensure that the asphalt material is properly placed and that the resulting road surface is properly laid. The asphalt material is leveled and compacted by a screed located at the rear of the asphalt paving machine. A separate station may be provided for a screed operator to control the paving operation of the screed independently so as to enable the machine operator to exercise more control over the paving machine. The asphalt paving material commonly used for the construction of hard surface paved roads is comprised of a mixture of an aggregate, such as sand, gravel, or rock material and an asphalt binding material. Such asphalt binding material may be relatively fluid when heated to a higher temperature than common ambient conditions, but will harden to a relatively solid material when allowed to cool to typical ambient conditions. A road surface constructed of such asphalt material is typically fairly resistant to wear and tear from typical motor vehicles and is popular because of its ease and speed of application.
One noticeable disadvantage inherent with the use of asphalt is that the petroleum distillates in the asphalt tend to emit substantial amounts of hydrocarbon and other foul smelling fumes when the asphalt is heated. These fumes can include nitrogen, sulfur, benzene, and other hydrocarbon materials, many of which are capable causing harm to plants and animals as well as to the operators of the asphalt paving machine and other construction personnel who typically spend a great of deal of time in the immediate vicinity of the paving machine.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,325 issued Aug. 22, 1995 to Michael T. Simonelli et al., entitled "ASPHALT FUME REDUCTION SYSTEM," a fumes processor is disclosed where fumes are burned in an engine of the paver or otherwise processed to remove or reduce noxious components of such fumes. The system disclosed therein uses thin ducting to transport fumes from a hood to an air cleaner, which is then communicated with the engine or to the exhaust pipe of the engine. While such fumes abatement system has been fairly successful in reducing the fumes emitted from the asphalt, several disadvantages have been noted. One such disadvantage is that specialized ducting must be designed, constructed and installed around and routed through the components of the paving machine, undesirably increasing the cost of the paving machine. Furthermore, such duct work is typically constructed of relatively thin and light weight sheet metal, plastic, fabric, fibrous or other like materials which are susceptible to damage and also typically includes a number of joints and connections, both of which tend to contribute to reduced efficiency in, as well as to leakage of fumes from, the fumes abatement system. Additionally, such fumes abatement systems often increase the incidental maintenance costs of the paving machine due to the fact they may need to be removed and reinstalled during routine maintenance of other components of the machine. In addition, the burning of fumes in the engine has proved to be injurious to the engine by fouling components and by shortening its useful life before overhaul and/or other maintenance.
Accordingly, it would be highly advantageous to provide a fumes abatement system which is relatively immune to damage and is non-injurious to other components of the paver, while providing a relatively high degree of efficiency in minimizing the amount of fumes affecting the operator of the machine, yet be relatively inexpensive to build and maintain.